


feel good

by diminishedmercury



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: M/M, Mage Hawke (Dragon Age), Pre-Relationship, beginnings of friendship, carver has a Bi Awakening, oc recruitment scenario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 04:29:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21207413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diminishedmercury/pseuds/diminishedmercury
Summary: His breath catches in his throat again when he sees Belenos again, four years later. It was meant to be a routine job to take out a band of bandits on the Wounded Coasts with Hawke and Varric, but it quickly turned into much more when they rounded the corner to the bandit camp settled down below the cliff side and found the Ignis siblings. They’re late to the party, apparently.





	feel good

**Author's Note:**

> title comes from "Feel Good" by Matt Maeson

The first time that he meets Belenos, he’s a fifteen-year-old farm boy looking for something to get him into trouble. There’s not much to do in Lothering. There never is. It’s the same as always- try to find someone who looks like they’re _newly _an adult that will buy him mead or ale and then sneak off behind the barns to drink it. Bethany knows he does it, but she hasn’t ratted him out for it. There’s an unrest in the village when he gets there and it’s strange. Nothing _ever _happens in Lothering and, being fifteen and stupid, he decides he needs to know what the hell is going on.

There’s a man, clearly an outsider, standing with what Carver assumes is his dog in front of the chantry. He’s speaking with the Revered Mother in a hushed tone and she appears to be thanking him for something. He can’t make out any words from how far away he stands, but he feels his heart leap into his throat when he catches a glimpse of the man’s handsome face. He looks a little older than his brother. He couldn’t be older than twenty-three. And he has tattoos that break up the ruggedness of his features. It’s the first time that Carver has ever really thought a man was beautiful. He knows some of the other farm boys in Lothering are pretty, but none of them have ever stood out to him quite the same as this stranger does.

He watches the man shake his head before he tightens his grip on his weapon, a rather intimidating looking spear, and turns around to leave the Revered Mother to her duties. She’d handed him _something _that he tucks away into the pouch strapped to his hips and now he’s stalking over to the inn.

Carver, still curious and still lacking impulse control, follows after him. He freezes when the man’s dog looks straight at him and he could swear the thing was smiling at him. The man doesn’t turn to see what his dog is interested in, luckily, and just steps into the inn. Carver, still stupid and still ever-curious, follows after standing outside for a good ten minutes. He sees him in a corner, his dog curled up under the table at his feet, with a tankard sitting on the wooden surface. He sees him raise his head and make eye-contact with him. There’s a cocky smirk on his face as he nods his head, calling him over. Clearly, he wasn’t as discreet as he thought he was. As much as it’s a bad idea to trust a stranger from out of town, Carver finds himself walking over, head ducked down and cheeks aflame, before taking the seat the man nudges out for him with his foot.

“What’re ya more curious abou’? The dog or the tattoos?” His voice is whiskey-dark and it fills Carver with a longing he didn’t know he could have talking to another man.

“Er- I just- You’re not from Lothering.” Smooth, Carver, he mentally berates himself. As if that one weren’t obvious enough by the man’s general lack of dress. “I’ve never seen someone like you…”

“Is tha’ a bad thing?” He doesn’t sound angry and Carver is glad he hadn’t come across as rude. His cheeks still flare with heat at the teasing tone in the blonde’s voice though.

“No! It’s just- I didn’t know-! Forget it!” He can’t admit that he thinks the man is captivatingly pretty. No way in hell could he do that. His laugh is rough and pleasant to listen to.

“I think ya migh’ jus’ be the firs’ person here to think tha’, laddie.” He frowns, but he does know how untrusting Lothering can be to outsiders. Especially ones that carry scary weapons and travel with war dogs (up close, the dog more resembled a wolf too and it was a little bit intimidating).

“Why is that?” He blurts before he can stop himself.

“Chasind aren’t exactly well-liked,” he shrugs as he lifts his drink to his lips and takes a pull from it. The way a few drops of the amber liquid travel down his chin and drop onto his throat really shouldn’t be as attractive as it is, but Carver knows he’ll be thinking about that for a long time. He’ll also think about the way his pink tongue flicks out to lick off the froth that coats his upper lip.

“Oh,” He says, a little dumb. He supposes that he knew that, but he’d always been taught to not listen to prejudices and rumors. He and his family had never really given the Chasind a second thought- it’s strange to actually hear about the mistreatment. “I’m… sorry.”

The blonde only rolls his eyes, with a groan deep in his throat. “Don’ wan’ to hear it.” He sees him reach down towards the dog at his feet. “Yer face might burn up like tha’.” Carver lets out an undignified squawk at that, huffing with a glare on his features.

“Shut up!” He’s laughing at him again and he doesn’t know how to get him to stop. He does finally quiet down after a long moment of Carver’s suffering.

“Ya look like a fighter.” He doesn’t know how he could have possibly known that. He’s not nearly as bulky as this man and he doesn’t carry around a weapon with him at all times.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s in yer eyes.” He shrugs, takes another sip, and continues speaking. “Yer hands too. They’re calloused.” That causes him to inspect his hands, and he suddenly takes note of what this man must have seen. They’re cracked and rough from time spent handling a blade and tending to a farm. He’s no stranger to hard labor. “How old are ya?”

“…” He doesn’t want to look weak. But he doesn’t want to lie either. “F-Fifteen.” He manages to get out.

“Oooh, so yer tryin’ t’ get me to buy ya alcohol, then? Ya learned the good tricks.” He flounders for a moment. “Alrigh’. I’ll leave ya a tankard then.”

“You don’t have to-“

“So long as ya continue t’ protect.” He doesn’t know how he knows that either. His dog yips from below, as if in agreement, and he nods dumbly. “Yer eyes give ya away, darlin’.” He stands up after that, stretching his arms high over his head. The way his one visible pec flexs and relaxes is another thing Carver won’t be able to get out of his mind. “Enjoy yer life, Ferelden.” He’s walking away after that, leaving Carver both dumbfounded and feeling like he’s high over the moon. It’s the first time anyone has really validated him as a warrior. A waitress sets a tankard on the table soon after that and Carver feels a swell of want in his chest. He wishes he had asked his name.

* * *

His breath catches in his throat again when he sees Belenos again, four years later. It was meant to be a routine job to take out a band of bandits on the Wounded Coasts with Hawke and Varric, but it quickly turned into much more when they rounded the corner to the bandit camp settled down below the cliff side and found the Ignis siblings. They’re late to the party, apparently, because the blonde warrior is cutting down one of the last two bandits when an arrow flies past all of them and lands deep into the man’s unprotected side. He goes down to his knees, a yell of shock tearing past his throat and an angry stare whipping around to lock on to the archer. There’s cuts and bruises all over his body- this one must have been the last bit of punishment that he could take.

“Belenos!” They hear a female voice scream, and Carver realizes it’s the red haired mage that’s down below with him. Varric quickly loads his crossbow and takes out the archer before she has a chance to take anymore shots at the vulnerable man below them. Carver’s blue eyes track her movements as she rushes over to his side, a hand on his back. He can’t hear what she says, but the look on her face tells him that the wound is serious.

“We need to help them, Alric,” He hears himself say, but he’s not really paying attention to what’s happening. His brother nods, but when he looks back to check on the pair, he only sees a large bear pulling away the man. “Shit!”

“_Andraste’s tits_, did she just turn into a bear?” He ignores Varric’s curses and quickly makes his way down the cliffside after Hawke, following the trail of blood he’s left behind.

When they find them again, the bear is nowhere in sight and the mage is bent over a mixture of herbs, her hands working to crush up the leaves in a mortar and pestle. There’s a leather bag thrown open next to her, and Carver can see bandages and potions poking out of the opening. The warrior is propped up against a large rock, hand holding onto the arrow that still sticks out of his side. It’s a grisly scene and Carver feels a shudder run down his spine. Both of their gazes immediately lock onto the three of them at their arrival though, and both reach for their weapons. It’s almost a little sad to see such a wounded man take hold of such a nasty looking spear.

“What do you want? Who are you?” She demands, staff pointed directly at his brother.

“We just want to help,” He puts his hands into the air, looking between the pair. Carver frowns, staring at the rather concerning amount of blood that’s dripping down the blonde’s side in the back.

“Can we do this later?” He finds himself demanding. “He’s _dying _over there!”

“_You _can be quiet! I’m well aware of my brother’s current state, but I _will not _allow him to be killed if you three are more bandits!” She hisses defensively, her posture looking even less relaxed than when the siblings had noticed them.

“Carver, listen to her.” He frowns, but he closes his mouth tightly at the look on Alric’s face. He knows it’s a serious situation. “Can I help? I know some healing spells.” Carver resists the urge to snort. His brother may be a mage, but he certainly wasn’t a healer. It may be enough to save a life though.

“… Do you know any herbalism?” She looks pensive after saying this, slowly lowering her staff and letting it clatter at her feet. She bends down to pick up the… _thing _she’d been working on before and offers it towards Hawke. He knows his brother doesn’t. “Can you just crush these up? I-I need to stabilize him and then dress his wounds with that. I can do both, but it’ll go much more quickly if you help me.”

“Sister, this is _madness_.” It’s the first time the man has spoken since they found them and he doesn’t sound happy. He sounds absolutely enraged. “_Fereldens_, sister.”

“Oh, shut it, Belenos! I’d rather trust them now and regret it later if it helps me save your stupid life, you blonde oaf.” Her words sound final in their authority as Hawke takes the offered job from her. She looks over at him and Varric afterwards. “You can strip him of his shirt. And you can just… keep watch for more bandits. I’m sure someone’s angry enough to seek us out.” He points at himself as he feels his cheeks heat up. He’s tasked to strip someone of their shirt and, unfortunately, no one else is jumping up to take his place. She glares at him and it sets him into motion.

He awkwardly shuffles himself over to Belenos, squatting down when he reaches him. His eyes are closed and his head is leaned back, but his grip on his spear turns his knuckles white. He still doesn’t trust them. “You… You weren’t this unfriendly last we met,” he curses himself after he’s said it.

There’s a dry laugh that leaves his tired body. “No. Last we met, I hadn’ been forced to protect my tribe from yer people either.” He doesn’t know what to say to that, so he works on gently lifting the man’s arm and pulling the green fabric over it. It’s not an easy task to remove him of his clothing, despite how little there really is on his top half. There’s just so many straps on his Maker forsaken belt that he gets confused a few times.

“I’m surprised you remember me.”

“Mm. Hard t’ forget a little runt like you lookin’ at me all moon-eyed.” Oh Maker, so he _had _noticed that, then? He thinks he could be struck down by a bolt of lightning then and there and he wouldn’t complain. “Was cute.”

“Ugh. _Please _let me forget that.”

“Please move,” He hears the redhead say, gently pushing him away from the blonde. “You two can talk about Lothering later.” He’s confused on how _she _knew about that until he remembers that Varric had claimed she turned into the bear they’d seen- she must have also been the dog travelling with Belenos.

It takes a while, but within the hour the warrior is back on his feet, bandages wrapped around his middle and the wound mostly closed up. The mage does one last check over her brother as Carver and Hawke help him to stand and she ends up giving him the clear to walk on his own again.

“I-… I cannot thank you enough.” She’s biting her lip, looking almost embarrassed. “We are indebted to you. I’m not sure I could have kept him alive on my own…” It’s a scary thought and it’s something Carver knows all too well- losing a sibling is worse than dying.

“… Thank ya.” Comes the reluctant sigh from Belenos.

“I am Fiori. And this is Belenos.”

“Just Bel.”

“If you ever require our services, for anything, we live in these Wilds. It’s a cabin not far from the entrance to Kirkwall. It’s easy to find, really, we’ve marked the way with stones!” She smiles brightly at the group, one hand resting on her brother’s back. She’s still worried about him. “Just give Bel a few days to rest and he’ll be able to help you with whatever you need as well.”

Bel shoots him a look, one that Carver doesn’t know how to translate, and he shifts his weight from one foot to the other under the scrutiny. “Seems ya didn’ forget yer promise. We’ll meet again.” Hawke shoots him a look now, one of confusion, before the Chasind siblings are setting off for their home.

“… Did we just meet one of Carver’s old fuck-buddies?” Varric breaks the silence that’s settled over the group. “I don’t know how you did it, Junior.”

“_I_ don’t know how you did it either, Carver.” Alric jumps in.

“I _didn’t_!”

“That explains it then.” He lets out a frustrated noise as Varric laughs at him, but he doesn’t put up a fight when they start heading back to Kirkwall. That same feeling is stuck in his chest on the journey home. He doesn’t know where it came from, doesn’t know why Belenos makes him feel so strangely, but he does know that he plans on understanding the man one day. As it stands, Carver feels that Belenos is more of an enigma than before he’d even known his name. And that, for some reason, is unacceptable for Carver Hawke.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone is curious about Belenos or Fiori, just drop a comment and I can share the character sheets I have for them! They are both intended to be add-on companions for Hawke in Dragon Age II and both are romanceable by Hawke. If Belenos is not romanced by Hawke, he and Carver will develop a relationship. A rather complicated one with their personalities clashing.


End file.
